…Nobody wants to punish success — that’s what you here when they try to respond to what should be some pretty obvious logic. Nobody wants to punish success in America. That’s what’s great about America — our belief that anybody can make if you try. Anybody can open a business, have a great idea, go out there and make millions, make billions. This is the land of opportunity. It’s why people came to New York. All I’m saying is that those who have done well, including the majority of people here tonight, we should pay our fair share in taxes. (Applause.) Contribute to the nation that made our success possible. Pass it on — pass on opportunity.

And I think most wealthy Americans would agree if they knew that this would help us grow the economy and deal with the debt that threatens our future, and put people back to work.

See, I got some Amen’s right here.

AUDIENCE: Amen!

THE PRESIDENT: This is a completely unbiased sampling. (Laughter.)

Now, you’re already hearing the Republicans in Congress dusting off the old talking points. You can write their press releases. “Class warfare,” they say. You know what, if asking a billionaire to pay the same rate as a plumber or a teacher makes me a warrior for the middle class, I wear that charge as a badge of honor. (Applause.) I wear it as a badge of honor. (Applause.) Because the only class warfare I’ve seen is the battle that’s been waged against middle-class folks in this country for a decade now.

Sorry, Dear Leader. You're completely wrong about billionaires paying less than a plumber or teacher. You're distorting the truth and you damn well know it. Comparing investment taxes with income taxes is apples and oranges. And your lie is so odious, even the Associated Press had to fact-check you on it.

President Barack Obama says he wants to make sure millionaires are taxed at higher rates than their secretaries. The data say they already are.

"Warren Buffett's secretary shouldn't pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett. There is no justification for it," Obama said as he announced his deficit-reduction plan this week. "It is wrong that in the United States of America, a teacher or a nurse or a construction worker who earns $50,000 should pay higher tax rates than somebody pulling in $50 million."

On average, the wealthiest people in America pay a lot more taxes than the middle class or the poor, according to private and government data. They pay at a higher rate, and as a group, they contribute a much larger share of the overall taxes collected by the federal government.

The 10 percent of households with the highest incomes pay more than half of all federal taxes. They pay more than 70 percent of federal income taxes, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

…This year, households making more than $1 million will pay an average of 29.1 percent of their income in federal taxes, including income taxes, payroll taxes and other taxes, according to the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank.

Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 will pay an average of 15 percent of their income in federal taxes.

Lower-income households will pay less. For example, households making between $40,000 and $50,000 will pay an average of 12.5 percent of their income in federal taxes. Households making between $20,000 and $30,000 will pay 5.7 percent.

The latest IRS figures are a few years older — and limited to federal income taxes — but show much the same thing. In 2009, taxpayers who made $1 million or more paid on average 24.4 percent of their income in federal income taxes, according to the IRS.

Those making $100,000 to $125,000 paid on average 9.9 percent in federal income taxes. Those making $50,000 to $60,000 paid an average of 6.3 percent.

Obama's claim hinges on the fact that, for high-income families and individuals, investment income is often taxed at a lower rate than wages. The top tax rate for dividends and capital gains is 15 percent. The top marginal tax rate for wages is 35 percent, though that is reserved for taxable income above $379,150.

This whole class warfare thing is a limp distraction from Obama's inept performance in office. He has no new ideas. And the ideas he's implemented have failed miserably. All he can do now is try to distract people with the canard that someone has more than they do, and as president he will take more from them and spread it around.

Obama is spreading something, all right. But it's certainly not fairness.

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